Women defend Susan Rice against ‘sexism and racism’ of old white men

Republican senators' criticism of U.N.
Ambassador Susan Rice over her initial account of the deadly Sept. 11
attack in Libya smacks of sexism and racism, a dozen female members of
the House said Friday. Dozen House Women Defend Rice over Libya Comments:

In unusually personal terms, the Democratic
women lashed out at Sens. John McCain and [his puppet boy] Lindsey Graham who earlier
this week called Rice unqualified and untrustworthy and promised to
scuttle her nomination if President Barack Obama nominates her to
succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"All of the things
they have disliked about things that have gone on in the administration,
they have never called a male unqualified, not bright, not
trustworthy," said Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, the next chairwoman of the
Congressional Black Caucus. "There is a clear sexism and racism that
goes with these comments being made by unfortunately Sen. McCain and
others."

At a Capitol Hill news conference,
the female lawmakers, the majority of them African American like Rice,
suggested that the Republicans are bitter about Obama's re-election and
taking it out on U.N. ambassador.

"To batter this woman because they don't
feel they have the ability to batter President Obama is something we the
women are not going to stand by and watch," said Rep. Gwen Moore,
D-Wis. "Their feckless and reckless speculation is unworthy of their
offices as senators."

The Democratic women directed particular ire
against McCain, who said Rice was "not being very bright" in her
comments. The women pointed out that Rice was a Rhodes scholar who
graduated tops in her Stanford University class whereas McCain was in
the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy.

In fact, the only reason John McCain ever attended the Naval Academy is because he was "legacy" pick: he received special treatment because his father and grandfather were admirals in the Navy. He thus deprived a far more qualified and deserving candidate an appointment to the Naval Academy. Johnny failed to achieve the rank of admiral because of his record of being a complete fuck-up in the Navy. He only got as far as he did because of nepotism.

McCain, who was
attending the Halifax International Security Forum, was questioned about
the lawmakers' criticism. "I think they are entitled to their
opinions," he said.

A spokesman for [McCain's puppet boy] Graham had no immediate reaction to the remarks.

In a separate appearance after a briefing on
Libya, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said the growing criticism of Rice "is almost as
if the attempt is to assassinate her character."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
rejected McCain's call for a special committee to allow him to engage in scandal mongering to try to remain relevant in the Senate, saying the ongoing investigations by House and Senate
committees are sufficient and should be allowed to proceed.

"The elections are over; it is time to put
an end to the partisan politicization of national security and begin
working together to strengthen our efforts to dismantle and destroy the
terrorist networks that threaten us," Reid wrote in a letter to McCain.

* * *

CIA acting director
Mike Morell has told congressional committees this week that Rice was
relying on an initial intelligence assessment that eventually proved
incorrect. Former CIA Director David Petraeus told congressional
committees Friday that Rice's comments "reflected the best intelligence
at the time that could be released publicly," according to Rep. Adam
Schiff, D-Calif., a lawmaker who attended the session.

The female House members argued that Rice would have no motivation to mislead the American people.

The
Democratic women also contrasted McCain and Graham's criticism with
their defense of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had
warned of weapons of mass destruction in pressing for war in Iraq that
killed more than 4,400 Americans. No weapons of mass destruction were
found.

"It's interesting to me that we're not
discussing another Rice who went before all of the Sunday talk shows
some years ago," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.

The Democratic women demanded that McCain and Graham retract their criticism.

"It is a shame that anytime something goes wrong, they pick on women and minorities," Fudge said.

Said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.: "We
will not allow a brilliant public servant's record to be mugged to cut
off her consideration to be secretary of state."

But it's not just the Neocon war mongers in the Senate upset over Willard "Mittens" Romney losing the election so they can't get their "four more wars!" on that John McCain advocated for at the GOP convention who are engaging in scapegoating Susan Rice.

It’s not just conservative lawmakers who been going after Rice; the
Villagers clearly have the knives out for her as well.
Villager-in-good-standing Dana Millbank has impugned Rice’s allegedly “tarnished resume”
and apparently finds her behavior most unladylike (though the euphemism
he prefers to use is “undiplomatic”). Among Rice’s sins, according to
Millbank, is this:

Back when she was an assistant secretary of state during
the Clinton administration, she appalled colleagues by flipping her
middle finger at Richard Holbrooke during a meeting with senior staff at
the State Department, according to witnesses. Colleagues talk of
shouting matches and insults.

Oh noes! Bring out the smelling salts! This stuff is especially odd coming from Millbank, known for writing nauseating fanboy drivel about Rahm Emanuel, a man not exactly famous for his dainty language or decorous approach to politics. [And a quick middle finger salute.]

Another of Rice’s sins, according to Dana Millbank, is “insulting”
Hillary Clinton, during Hillary’s campaign for president. Here is his
sole example of Rice’s “insulting” behavior, in its entirety:

Rice condemned Clinton’s Iraq and Iran positions, asking for
an “explanation of how and why she got those critical judgments wrong.”

But hey, I guess the man who unapologetically called Clinton a bitch knows from insults!

That McCain, Graham, Millbank, and other known antifeminists have
been going after Rice in such clearly gendered ways has been
infuriating. That’s why I appreciated President Obama’s strong words in support of Rice earlier this week. (I also his appreciated him showing his rarely seen “bring it on” side. More like this, please!)

All of which explains why it has been so gratifying to see Democratic women coming to Rice’s defense.

* * *

It’s maddening that this country is more or less run by old, white,
out of touch, sexist, racist men like McCain and Mitt Romney, whose
accomplishments, intellectual and otherwise, are dubious, and who would
reaped enormous unearned benefits from the wealth and connections they
were born into. And yet these same people, rather than being humble
about their own modest abilities and respectful of others who have
accomplished so much in the world despite facing far more formidable
obstacles, have the unmitigated call to question their credentials.
The right does this time and again.

Women and nonwhites in the public
eye constantly have their qualifications and competencies questioned in
ways that those of white men never are. No matter how glittering a
person’s resume is, how dazzling their accomplishments are, if a
prominent person is nonwhite and/or female, he or she is treated as an
unqualified usurper. Moreover, they are treated this way not just by the
wingnut fringe, but by such icons of the GOP establishment as John
McCain. We see this in, for example, the obsessive attempts by those on the right to get Barack Obama to release his college transcript, their bizarre assertions that Bill Ayers wrote Obama’s books, and their ludicrous belief that Obama can’t put a coherent sentence together without a teleprompter. We also saw it, all too clearly, in the disgustingly racist, sexist treatment many on the right dished out to Sonia Sotomayor.

The G.O.P. just suffered an overwhelming presidential defeat, in large
part because they have repeatedly made it loud and clear to women and
nonwhites that we are less than, that we are not welcome in their America.
And yet, in spite of the devastating rejection they just received by
the American electorate, they just can’t help themselves. They cluelessly go on their merry way, blithely insulting huge swathes
of America, and denying the competency and legitimacy of some of the
most accomplished people in America, simply because they possess the
wrong genitals and/or skin color. Awesome way to talk yourselves ever
more deeply into irrelevancy, dudes! These guys can’t exit the stage
soon enough, as far as I’m concerned.

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